" Unexpected Love " by Arely M.

“Hurry up! You're going to be late!” said my mom. It was a Monday afternoon and the first day of what was a three day church even for all of the confirmation students. I remember rolling my eyes and taking all the time I could to go down the stairs. I was not looking forward to spending precious homework or studying time to go a mandatory church event.

When I got to church I waited outside for my friend Alexis since she was the only one I knew and I didn't want to be alone. When she finally got there, we decided to go inside. We stood at the door for a bit, trying to figure out where the perfect place to sit. Finally, we chose one of the rows near the back. As we were walking, she points out a boy and tells me he's a friend of hers. The first thing that ran through my mind was that he was pretty good looking, however, I didn't mention it to Alexis since that's just not the type of person I am. The event went on and i noticed my mind kept wandering off to the mental picture I had taken of the handsome boy. Once the event was finally done for the day, I turned around to get a glance at him again but to my disappointment he was no longer there.

On day two of the event, I wasn't as annoyed about having to go. Like the previous day, I waited for Alexis outside and went in once she got there. We sat around the same place and I noticed the boy was sitting just a couple rows back. The event went on without anything exciting happening and before I knew it I was in my way back home.

That night I was laying in bed, on my phone when I noticed I had a new follower on twitter. I checked to see who it was and found out it was someone named Ivan. His picture wasn't very clear and his name didn't ring a bell so I didn't follow him back.

The next day at school, Alexis told me that her friend had talked to her to say that he thought I was very beautiful. I couldn't believe it! I immediately got butterflies in my stomach and I began to blush. I asked what his name was and she said it was Ivan. It clicked in my brain that the new follower I had was him. I was so excited the rest of the day to go to church that afternoon because I knew I would get to see him again.

Later that day, as I was on my way to church, I was feeling nervous yet excited. I felt as if I was back in elementary school experiencing my first crush. When I got there, Alexis and I decided to sit right in front of Ivan and a friend of his. Throughout the whole event I was so tempted to just turn around and stare at him. When it was finally over, I turned around, extended my hand, and introduced myself. He did the same and we began to talk as we walked out of the church. He was so polite, easy going, and had an attractive personality. We exchanged phone numbers before we left.

Later that night, I received a text from him. We texted the whole night and even made plans to go to the movies that Friday, which marked our first date.

Here we are 11 months later, getting ready to celebrate our first Valentine's Day and our upcoming one year anniversary. I never would've thought something as beautiful as our relationship would come from something I had no interest in doing.